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Description

The modern and contemporary legacy of Luther’s theology is a vital topic of continuing investigation, assessment, and construction. Rupturing Eschatology is Eric Trozzo’s constructive retrieval of Luther’s theology of the cross for the purpose of establishing a contemporary Lutheran and “emerging” account of the cross, silence, and eschatology.

Seeking to overcome a tendency toward extrinsic notions of divine glory and transformation, the author explores Luther’s early construction of the theology of the cross and divine hiddenness in concert with the work of the Lutheran mystical tradition and modern Lutheran theology, such as Jürgen Moltmann, Paul Tillich, and John Caputo. Trozzo argues for an intra-historical and intra-worldly account of divine possibility oriented around a contemporary theology of the cross marked by reclamation of the biblical and mystical practice of silence as the space that creates hope.

Endorsements

"Rupturing Eschatology is an adventurous and challenging book. Eric J. Trozzo brings the manifold interpretations of Luther's 'theology of the cross' and his related idea of the ‘hidden God’ into dialogue with postmodern perspective represented by John Caputo. In the process, we are led into a deepened sense of the cross for our contemporary call to solidarity with the suffering and to an open future, a transformative eschatology that challenges faith and beckons us to justice. The book is closely argued and rich in scholarly resources."—James M. Childs, Jr.Trinity Lutheran Seminary

"Eric J. Trozzo might just have pulled off the im-possible: a faithfully Protestant and dauntlessly poststructuralist theology. His theology of the silence of the cross—passionately lucid and conceptually elegant—realizes luminous and underexplored potentialities of the Lutheran, mystical, and gospel traditions."—Catherine KellerDrew Theological School

"Eric J. Trozzo, a lucid expositor of the Lutheran tradition, carries us here into a surprising conclusion in the aural dimension of theology. Situating himself as a theologian of the cross (a disposition more than a dogma, he explains), he tunes us to apprehending the im-possible, the tremulous encounter of the holy, within depths of silence—of despair, of seeming godforsakenness. Trozzo—with poststructuralist sensibilities and astute tenderness for the tradition—carefully constructs around the aching vault of silence advent anticipation—a sense of eschatology that does not over-reach this open-ended cosmos."—Sharon V. BetcherAuthor of Spirit and the Politics of Disablement

"Rupturing Eschatology offers a lucid interpretation of Luther's influential theologia crucis in dialogue with Moltmann, Boehme, Tillich, Caputo, and the Gospel of Mark. This grounds Trozzo's constructive theology of the cross, in which divine glory inflects and opens the philosophical trope of the im-possible toward an account of transformative faith and ethical hope. A fresh and engaging contribution to theology."—Mayra Rivera Harvard Divinity School

"Eric J. Trozzo elucidates the rich tension of Luther's writings on divine hiddenness, skillfully tracking the strengths and weaknesses of prior interpretations. In insightful engagement with Moltmann, Tillich, and Caputo, Trozzo rethinks the concept of eschatological glory and presents his own moving analysis of the personal and political consequences of divine hiddenness. His proposal of a ‘theology of the silence of the cross' may rightly evoke responses from readers who appeal to what Paul in I Corinthians calls 'the word of the cross.' Inviting examination of the interplay of word and silence in a theology of the cross is one of the many contributions of Trozzo's richly instructive work."—John HoffmeyerThe Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia